As reported by Gast on the front page, Square Enix are going to make a surprise E3 announcement on E3 this year. So what do you people think it'll be?

My bet? They're going to announce that they've been working on a FF VII remake since the tech demo was shown on last years E3, and that it'll be a launch title for the PS3.

Well, maybe not the launch title part. I do find it highly likely that the annoucment will be a remake, though. Squeenix have been milking the Final Fantasy VII cow for a long time now, with Advent Children and the rest of the Compilation of FF VII stuff. A remake seems like the next logical step, even if I personally am not very excited about the idea.

Either that, or they're going to annouce that they'll from now on release all their titles on the PS3 and Xbox360 simultaneously.

You may be right on that remake idea. For me, ever since sqauresoft became squareenix they been doing a lot of crap work and milking their good franchises way too hard. I don't think I have liked anything they released since FFX. But this isn't about that. But if I had to put money down on what they are announcing yeah I'd say some sort of FF7 project. Because no other FF game sold at all {sarcasm}

Basically we already know that they will talk about Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII which supposedly is the last installment of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. And unlike last year Final Fantasy XII should be playable again.

I'm still not sure about the Final Fantasy VII remake issue. I mean, just look at Youichi Wada's reaction when that one kid in the Tsutaya Shibuya store asked for a Final Fantasy VII remake on PlayStation 3 during the Final Fantasy XII event. He was caught off guard and could only say they would look into it. That's basically the standard reply Square Enix representatives have given day and again. On the other hand, there seem to be a lot of people who really want that remake and as the sales of the various Compilation titles have shown, the power of the Final Fantasy VII brand is still there, so economically it would make perfect sense.

As far as next-gen stuff is concerned, we only know about three projects right now. The new Final Fantasy game for PlayStation 3, the mysterious new MMORPG and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles for the Revolution. The problem is nobody really knows how far the development on these titles has been progressed so far. There is no information on the MMORPG and the Revolution game whatsoever and the last time Kitase and Nomura talked about the Final Fantasy game for PlayStation 3 last year, they mentioned it was in very early stages of development.

On the other hand, Square Enix is pretty much forced to show off, or at least announce next generation games at E3 and/or Tokyo Game Show, since the competition is not idle either. If they have a launch or near launch title ready for PlayStation 3 it won't be anything big, but rather a small budget game, possibly a new sports game from their Osaka studio, though.

The really interesting question will be their choice of a target platform for Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest and Kingdom Hearts. I have trouble imagining Square Enix bringing these games to two platforms. Then again, their decision making process is probably not that easy. Xbox 360 has performed well below expectations in Japan (which is still a very important market, in particular for Dragon Quest) and PlayStation 3 will only go on sale in early November.

Interesting, im a little curious as to whats up thier sleeve myself. I remember a topic about this before, but I cant really remember what was mentioned about it, but has anything new surfaced about the enigmatic "chrono brake" Gast? Its a little far off since the chrono team is poking around in different places, but nothing is impossible I suppose.

Didn't people pretty much give up on the hope of a new Chrono game after Squeenix failed to renew the trademark Chrono Brake? I also recall Gast mentioning that the team that previously worked on the Chorno games has now been moved to Squeenix' MMORPG department.

As for Wada being suprised by someone asking him for a FF VII remake at the promotion event for FF XII... Well, I would be surprised too, if someone decide to ask about a 10 year old game, instead of the brand new, multi-billion yen title that I was there to promote ;)

Actually, the fact that Squeenix time and time again have refused to either confirm or deny a FF VII remake seems like a good indication that they've at least been thinking hard about it. I really don't think they can let the opportunity slip them by after the Compilation of FF VII stuff has been so successfull, and after all the (mostly) postive reactions the tech demo was met with.

Nope, nothing new on that front. Last time I checked the Japanese trademark for Chrono Brake was still active, but Square Enix has never commented on the issue. As you already mentioned, the problem is who should develop the game. Series mastermind Masato Katou has worked for Square Enix for the first time in four years again as he provided the scenario for Seiken Densetsu DS. Nobody knows, whether he will work for them again in the future.

Even if he returns, he could and probably would not return to his old production team, because those folks will continue to work on MMORPGs (and Katou made it pretty clear in an interview that he did not like working on MMORPGs). And finding a new production team big enough to handle the development of a major title like a third Chrono game would be insanely difficult. Square Enix only has four big production teams (1-4) capable of that and they are already working on other stuff. And I doubt that they would outsource the development of such a major title. Sure, you never know, but looking at the facts the odds are not too great for Chrono Brake.

Hm, I'm sure that there was something related to Chrono Brake that they let expire. Perhaps it was the American trademark, or possibly even something as minor as the domain name chronobreak.com. I remember the news about it making a big splash, anyway, and everyone taking it as a sign that Squeenix had given up on the Chrono series.

I would enjoy a Final Fantasy VII remake, but I don't think it is necessary. Aside from a few typos in the US version I really don't see anything wrong with the game. I even enjoy the graphics still. I suppose for younger gamers who may not have been around at the time it was released would welcome a remake. After all, it has been around nine years since its release.

I won't even guess what the surprise announcement will be. I'd like to see a new Chrono game be announced more than anything, but that most likely won't happen.

Hm, I'm sure that there was something related to Chrono Brake that they let expire. Perhaps it was the American trademark, or possibly even something as minor as the domain name chronobreak.com. I remember the news about it making a big splash, anyway, and everyone taking it as a sign that Squeenix had given up on the Chrono series.

That was the trademark with the US Patent and Trademark Office. It was called Chrono Break, while the Japanese trademark is Chrono Brake. Problem is that the trademark and some rather vague comments from two or three Square Enix staffers were the only things that hinted at a new Chrono game. Whether they have given up on the series remains to be seen. After all they also let Hanjuku Hero collect dust for almost a decade, before they released two new games on PlayStation 2.